Song Lyric Sunday: Ringo Starr, “Never Without You”

I’ve known for three weeks which song I was going to use for today’s theme, which Jim tells us is "Tribute songs written in memory of someone."

"Never Without You" is Ringo Starr’s tribute to his buddy, George Harrison. It appeared on Ringo’s 2003 album Ringo Rama and was also released as a single. Ringo wrote it with Mark Hudson and Gary Nicholson and Eric Clapton contributes some very "George-like" guitar.

The lyrics, from AZLyrics:

We were young, it was fun
And we couldn’t lose
Times were right, overnight
We were headline news

Crazy days and reckless nights
Limousines and bright spotlights
We were brothers through it all

And your song will play on without you
And this world won’t forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on
Never without you (without you without you)
Within you without you (within you without you)
“Here Comes the Sun” is about you

Here today, not alone
With my memories
Life is strange how things change
It’s reality

You played a beautiful melody
That keeps on haunting me
I can always feel you by my side

And your song will play on without you
And this world won’t forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on
Never without you (without you without you)
Within you without you (within you without you)
“Here Comes the Sun” is about you

I know “All Things Must Pass”
And only love will last
I’ll always love the memory
Of you and me
(Take it away, Eric)

And your song will play on without you
And this world won’t forget about you
Every part of you was in your song
Now we will carry on
Never without you (never without you)
Within you without you (within you without you)
We’re never without you (never without you)
Within you without you (within you without you)

We’re never without you (never without you)

We’re never without you (never without you)
Within you without you (within you without you)
“I Dig Love” is about you

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for January 23, 2022.

Song Lyric Sunday: “Weird” Al Yankovic, “Christmas at Ground Zero”

Jim chose the prompt "Bomb, Gun, Knife, Weapon" for today, and naturally I immediately thought of a …. Christmas song?

"Christmas At Ground Zero" is from "Weird" Al Yankovic’s 1986 album Polka Party!, which came out around Thanksgiving of that year. He was inspired by Phil Spector’s 1963 album A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector, released on the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting of his own volition and by himself (wink). The album included songs by The Ronettes, The Crystals, and Darlene Love. Yankovic decided to parody the style of the music, complete with Spector’s infamous "wall o’ sound." Naturally, the song combines Christmas with a nuclear attack.

The lyrics, from AZLyrics:

It’s Christmas at Ground Zero
There’s music in the air
The sleigh bells are ringin’ and the carolers are singin’
While the air raid sirens blare

It’s Christmas at Ground Zero
The button has been pressed
The radio just let us know
That this is not a test

Everywhere the atom bombs are droppin’
It’s the end of all humanity
No more time for last minute shoppin’
It’s time to face your final destiny

Well, it’s Christmas at Ground Zero
There’s panic in the crowd
We can dodge debris while we trim the tree
Underneath a mushroom cloud

[siren]

You might hear some reindeer on your rooftop
Or Jack Frost on your windowsill
But if someone’s climbin’ down your chimney
You better load your gun and shoot to kill

Oh, it’s Christmas at Ground Zero
And if the radiation level’s okay
I’ll go out with you and see the all new
Mutations on New Year’s Day

It’s Christmas at Ground Zero
Just seconds left to go
I’ll duck and cover with my yuletide lover
Underneath the mistletoe

It’s Christmas at Ground Zero
Now the missiles are on their way
What a crazy fluke we’re gonna get nuked
On this jolly holiday
What a crazy fluke we’re gonna get nuked
On this jolly holiday

[siren]

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for January 16, 2022.

Song Lyric Sunday: Roy Acuff, “Just To Ease My Worried Mind”

Jim got this week’s prompt from Fandango: "Concern, Fear, Fret, Worry." The first thing I thought of was the line "ease my worried mind" that pops up in a lot of blues songs. When I went looking, the first thing DuckDuckGo suggested was a song by Roy Acuff called "Just To Ease My Worried Mind," and I knew I had a winner. Roy was a singer, fiddler, bandleader, and music publisher who wrote and recorded this some time between 1936 and 1949, because it was on the 1992 album The Essential Roy Acuff (1936-1949).

The lyrics, via SongLyrics.com:

Don’t you hear that whistle blowing
Can’t you hear that lonesome whine
Going to catch her at the crossing
Just to ease my worried mind

I’ve seen all of your big cities
From New Mexico to Maine
But none of them’s like old Dixie
So I’m headed back again

Don’t you hear that whistle blowing
Can’t you hear that lonesome whine
Going to catch her at the crossing
Just to ease my worried mind

I’ve traveled this whole world over
It’s the sunny south for me
Down among them fields of cotton
That’s where I long to be

Don’t you hear that whistle blowing
Can’t you hear that lonesome whine
Going to catch her at the crossing
Just to ease my worried mind

And now I’ve told my story
And so I’m Dixie bound
To live down there forever
And never more roam around

Don’t you hear that whistle blowing
Can’t you hear that lonesome whine
Going to catch her at the crossing
Just to ease my worried mind

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for January 9, 2022.

Song Lyric Sunday: Tony Clarke, “The Entertainer”

Jim got this prompt from Melanie, "Entertainment, Circus, Show." It reminded me of a piece of sheet music Mary had years ago, when she was taking piano lessons, Scott Joplin’s "The Entertainer," wityh lyrics by John Brimhall, the publisher of the piece. As you can imagine, the lyrics were cheesy, which made me wonder if there were actual lyrics to the song. So, off to YouTube I went and searched for "the entertainer lyrics." Most of what I got from that were videos of Billy Joel doing a song by that name, but then I found this one by R&B singer Tony Clarke. This was evidently his one big hit record, reaching #10 on the R&B chart and #31 on the Hot 100. The lyrics are in the video, so I ain’t gotta put them in the post.

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the day) for January 2, 2022.

Song Lyric Sunday: Little Walter, “Boom Boom (Out Goes The Lights)”

Jim had another suggestion from Ai: Anger, Frustration, Furious, Irritated, Mad, Provoked, Revenge. The blues, of course, is full of songs about these, one example being Little Walter’s "Boom Boom (Out Goes The Lights)." It was written by Stanley Lewis and issued as Checker Records #867 in 1957.

The lyrics, from SongLyrics.com:

No kiddin’, I’m ready to fight
I’ve been lookin’ for my baby all night
If I get her in my sight
Boom, boom, out go the lights

I thought I treated my baby fair
And now she’s gettin’ all in my hair
If I get her in my sight
Boom, boom, out go the lights

[Harmonica solo]

No kiddin’, I’m ready to go
When I find her boy don’t you know
If I get her in my sight
Boom, boom, out go the lights

I never been so mad before
When I found out she ain’t mine no more
If I get her in my sight
Boom, boom, out go the lights

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for December 26, 2021.